SAFETY
Equipment operators each day
take undo risk with capacities,
speed and limitations
resulting in a portion of the
roughly five construction
fatalities every day.
The question that came to
my mind while attending
the safety meeting was this:
Are we as a company doing
everything we can to make
sure our employees know
and understand our stance
on their taking of risks
while working? We need to
ensure as company leaders
that we are adequately
communicating to our
employees that no undo
or excessive risk should be
undertaken in the completion
of their job.
While the idea sometimes
heard of “anything it takes
to get the job done,” can
appropriately be applied to
harder work, longer hours
or extra planning, it should
not ever be a part of the
conversation when discussing
taking unnecessary risks.
Thankfully, our industry
has and is continuing to
change in this area. A
majority of our clients and/
or customers do not expect
19
JULY 2013
ACT
employees, including several
in safety departments, which
are active EMTs, volunteer
firefighters, paramedics and
other first responders. The
day after this tragedy, I was
looking out at a large group
of co-workers preparing for
a safety meeting. As I stood
there, I listened to the several
conversations of those who
had similar experiences in
their first responder duties.
My thoughts went to a risk
management concept I had
not thought of in a while; Risk
vs. Reward.
Making choices
Each day we make hundreds
to thousands of decisions
based on varying factors.
One of the biggest of these
determinants is whether the
action we are choosing to do
is worth the risk of doing it
based on the potential reward.
Examples of these thought
processes are virtually endless.
We choose to drive each
day to work knowing driving
in itself is a high risk activity
because the reward of keeping
a job and having an income is
worth the risk. We choose to
make use of wooden handrails
on stairs, and although there
is a risk of a splinter, the
reward of not falling down the
stairs is bigger.
The two-thought processes
and subsequent choices can
appear to be easy decisions
we make without a second
thought, but what about some
not-so-easy options? Each day
people by the millions choose
to send text messages while
driving although their risk
of an injury or fatal accident
is roughly four times higher.
‘‘
The question that came to my mind
while attending the safety meeting was this:
Are we as a company doing everything we
can to make sure our employees know and
understand our stance on their taking of
risks while working?
THE AUTHOR
Daniel Erwin
is director of
safety for TNT
Crane & Rigging
in Houston.
Daily, we make
hundreds to
thousands of
decisions. One of
the biggest of these
determinants is
whether the action
we are choosing to
do is worth the risk
of doing it based
on the potential
reward.
Daniel
Erwin
reports
nor would they allow lifting
and transportation specialists
they hire to take these risks,
thereby furthering our
incentive to not do so. The
job can take longer when
a potential issue is seen, a
bigger crane can be brought
in when capacity is an issue,
power lines can be turned off
or a road trip can be delayed
due to excessively bad road
conditions.
Define hero
One important point I’d
like to pass along is that in
our industry, in contrast to
the Houston firefighters,
when unnecessary risks are
taken and an incident does
result, the news headlines
do not refer to heroes who
were willing to take high
risks but instead use words
such as “lack of training,”
“irresponsible” or “careless” to
describe a company or their
operations.
If we do a brief risk vs.
reward analysis before each
project we undertake and
react accordingly we will
definitely be on the right
path toward improved
workplace safety.
■
Risk vs.
reward
T
here was a recent
tragedy in the city of
Houston that gained
national attention. Four
young firefighters lost their
lives and many others were
injured while battling a large
hotel inferno in 95 degree
temperatures and high winds.
The news reports stated that
a section of the burning hotel
roof collapsed resulting in the
fatalities. The word hero was
instantly used in the media
and by many to describe the
acts of bravery of these men
and women. Not only their
lives were honored but also
the concept of being willing
to bravely rush in while
everyone else is running away.
We work in an industry
which employs a fairly
high percentage of these
like-minded individuals.
In my current situation, I
am surrounded by fellow
